Kaleidoscopic View

He said he was the dust along the river road he travled
He thought she was a landscape all her own
Cool skin, silk, gin, and Shalimar perfume
A little heavy on the hairspray, but her heart’s in bloom

CHORUS:
He said Hey girl before I looked your way
I saw the world in shade of grey
I don’t want to live that way again
Ooh I’ll sing another song for you
If you keep your kaleidoscopic point of view
I like the way you see all those changes
Coming through…

He said, well give that thing a whirl, I’ve got a lot to learn
He thought she might have been a teacher’s daughter
Cool blue eyes, slow smile, soft and real smart
A little rough around the edges, she had a cowgirl heart

CHORUS

He said he saw the tiny sequins turning in the tube
She said It’s mighty hard to keep things still
Sage grass, sea glass, sifting in and out of view
Every angle is so beautiful…every second is brand new

CHORUS

Edna St. Vincent Millay

I learned to drive I learned to ride and roll a cigarette
Ooo all those poet boys and playwright girls and married men
I had a hunger and I didn’t care
I wanted beauty with a savage flair
That was the summer I cut my hair

CHORUS:
Grass is green for a season
Love is sweet for a day
But love grows sour with treason
And Edna St. Vincent Millay

I tore em up I cut em loose, I took my awful time
Still all I wanted was a sonnet or another song to rhyme
I held the world, it was all right there
I wanted Truth and I needed air
That was the summer I cut my hair

CHORUS

I close my eyes I say my name I change a century
I burn my candle at both ends, I love em hard and then I leave
I have my secrets and I don’t dare
Promise eternity, it isn’t fair
Remember the summer I cut my hair

CHORUS

Children On A Ride

Back in the day when we still played records
And the lights of the city shined
You lit up the sadness in the sky
I was a shadow painted on the window
Such an impassioned child
We were wild
Crackin Wise
Children on a ride

Back in the blur of kisses- near misses
And all kinds of spinning around
I was so lonesome I could cry
You were a teardrop falling for a tune
In the month of May, busting out in June
We were wild
Crackin wise
Children on a ride

CHORUS:
Remember me, I’m the girl who lived there
In your vagabond heart for awhile
Remember me, I’m the girl who lived there
Among strangers and friends
And your dangerous smile

Back in the barroom, back of the street
You were crazy boy, on the prowl for me
I was watching heartbeats go by
Time was a-tickin, last game of chicken
Last chance for alchohol
We were wild
Crackin Wise
Children on a ride

CHORUS

Back in the basement, back in the bedroom
Back where I learned to be strong
I won’t forget one sad farewell
Ah, it’s a weary sigh for that song
It’s no fairy tale, but you can sing-a-long
We were wild
Crackin wise
Children on a ride

One Safe Place

Once there was a time
When all I wanted was a mountainside
And one room, one room –where I could hide

Lying on my bed I cried
And my Mother rubbed my back and said
I know, I know, don’t I

CHORUS:
Everybody wants to run so far away
Even if it’s down a lonesome road
But everybody needs an empty page
One safe place to go

Once there was a boy
I followed him. I studied all his moves
One room, one room, for two

Lying on a bed I cried
When he turned away from me and said
We’re through, I knew, didn’t I

CHORUS

Once I was that girl
Ah, I could run but not outrace my worried world
I knew, I knew, couldn’t do

Now I guess I’m coming home
I climb the mountainside and I give my heart to you
True blue, I knew, didn’t I

CHORUS

My Twilight Mind

Right before the sun goes down
Just before the stars come out
It’s seven hundred miles at least
On a serpent’s back, this old highway beast
It’s an aching in the heart that longs to wander

Far beyond the city crowds
Underneath the crimson clouds
Safe inside a moving room
With a radio, an unfinished tune
It’s an aching in the heart that longs for more

CHORUS:
I ride this road the long way home
I don’t know what I’m bound to find
In these broken white lines
In my twilight mind

Driving in a wilderness
Moving through the darkness blessed
Here behind the wheel I see
All the shiny lights passing right through me
It’s an aching in the heart that longs for you

CHORUS

Sure as one night passes on , a fine new day comes along
I ride this road…

Right before the sun goes down
Far beyond the city crowd
Driving in a wilderness
Moving through the darkness blessed

Penelope's Song

When you set off to fight your war
You swore you’d see me long before
So many years had passed and I’d grow old
Now it’s near one hundred seasons
And I’m beyond the point of reason
Waiting for a hero to return

CHORUS:
I’m Crazy to wait for you, crazy to cry my eyes black and blue
Crazy to imagine a love so true
I wait for you

I’ve raised our boy and he’s proud of you
And he believes you’ll come back too
If you could see him, you’d be so very proud to know him
But I’m not sure, not always clear
And every day I fight this fear
Of the light that dies at the end of another day

CHORUS

Now I still dream of birds in flight
Diving down, they guide my sight
To the end of a long long dusty road
When I wake up from deepest sleep
I see you looking down at me
With a smile and a tear
And a story to tell

CHORUS

Writing On The Wall

Lucky loves Joey loves Connie loves Dave
Watch out Diego, behave
We saw the lines written under the road
Fading, and on we drove
One rainy afternoon last fall
Writing on a wall

Work hard then die, Mother - love sets you free
Think for a change, hug a tree
We saw the lines in the alley today
Fading, as we walked away
Under a newly, painted scrawl
Writing on the wall

He won’t back down, can’t admit, won’t deny
Bruises her other eye
She sees the lines- frozen face in a mirror
Jaded – fading with fear
Dark side of promise down the hall
And writing on the wall

Can you find Lucky hey, have you seen Joe?
"Trust Jesus, he’ll bring them home."
We see the signs, posted pictures and shrines
Waiting - how many times,
Who sees the warnings and last calls
And writing on the wall?

Thank You Help Me

Prayers for the weather prayers for this week
prayers for my house and the food that we eat
Thank You Help Me
Prayers for the nation prayers on TV
Prayers for the needy, the broken, the meek
Thank You Help Me

CHORUS:
Are you Father, are you my Mother?
Are you a light at the end of a tunnel?
Prayers for the sinner prayers for the sick
Prayers for their causes, you take your pick
Thank You Help Me
Prayers for the Babies, prayers for the moms
Prayers for the people who hide behind bombs
Thank You Help Me

CHORUS

Prayers for the women prayers for the men
Prayers for my enemies and all of my friends
Thank You Help Me
Prayers in the morning, prayers before bed
Prayers for the worries that trouble my head
Thank you Help Me

Are you Father, are you my Mother?
Are you a light at the end of a tunnel?
Are you in me are you outside
Are you over the hill
Are all these prayers overkill?

Thank You
Help Me

We Drove From Richmond

It’s another sad true story
I don’t make it up at all
Waiting for the plane in Pittsburgh PA
Thinking about Ida’s call

Now everybody has to go sometime
I’m sorry that you’re leaving so soon
You lose a real fine family
And the whole world loses you

CHORUS:
Remember, we drove from Richmond
Man, it was a cold ride home
But we had Neil Young
And a lousy radio
And every damn song he’d ever sung

Tell me, is the road to glory
Exactly as you thought it might be
I know it isn’t easy
The leaving looks like hell to me

I wonder do you see us clearly
Saying our goodbyes to you
Or is this all a tearful mystery
Are we coming through?

CHORUS 2x

It’s another sad true story
I don’t make it up at all
Waiting for a plane in Pittsburgh PA
Thinking about Ida’s call

Keep A-Walkin'

Rio walks these winter woods
Shoots the snowfall with his Nikon camera
Mary sleeps in their room all day
Anymore, she don’t come along

CHORUS:
It’s a ragged road, leading to and from these broken hearts
My word, keep a-walkin
It’s a heavy load, tumble, fall then you get back up again
And find a way home

Ruby likes all her pretty paintings
She likes to keep her house clean
Harry plays with the boys at the club
And he just bought a huge TV screen

CHORUS

BRIDGE:
Sometimes this means stay
Sometimes this means you’ve got to go….

Randy O. teaches music at the college
He’s got a girl on the side
His wife Sue, finished up her latest novel
Now she’s leaving for awhile

DOUBLE CHORUS

Quiet As Snow

Listen, the snow is falling again
Down through the trees in our backyard
When we listen to snow on nights like these
We’re what we long to be:

Quiet as snow

Come by the fire sit closer to me
It’s all that I need, my heart’s desire
When we listen to snow on nights like these
We’re what we long to be:

Quiet as snow

And no one bleeds
With all our broken hearts and deepest grief
They are with us still
There is mercy, we will heal

Listen, the snow is falling again
Soft on the wind and on this house
When we listen to snow on nights like these
When we want to be

We’re quiet as snow